What we are seeing with WikiLeaks is very akin to what we are seeing with militant Islam and the War On Terror: a non-state entity taking on some of the powers and influence previously accorded only to nation states. WikiLeaks is acting like the intelligence agency of a nation hostile to (if not at war) with the United States. They, like the terrorists, have declared a modern form of war against us, and are waging it just like the KGB would. They are violating our secrets and publicizing them for their own ideological ends -- which are inimical to our own national security.
I've mentioned this angle before, too:
I've mentioned private warfare before, and this is another challenge to the assumption that a state wages war on another state. Already, we see the problem of waging war on jihadi terrorists. It isn't enough to wage war on al Qaeda since the enemy is too shapeless to fit even into that loose category let alone the strict concept of a state.
Heck, we even have problems confronting the state of Iran even as it supports entities who kill our people in Iraq and Afghanistan since so many in the West argue that "Iran" does not fight us--the Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran), which is an entity within Iran's government, are fighting us.
So how do we wage war on a private entity that is waging war on us, admittedly without shooting at us, through leaking information that will damage our war effort?
It is only a matter of time, if it isn't happening right now, before entities bribe, coerce, persuade, trick, or blackmail WikiLeaks into serving their interests by focusing on targets of their choice to reveal areas of interest to them.
WikiLeaks or other private intelligence groups could take their part in the shopping cart of those intent on waging private warfare one day.
